hopeallgoeswell Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Background: Did SOTW 1 through chapter 26 with AG in K. DD disliked the reading (but learned), liked the maps and coloring pages, and loved the crafts (we did not do any of the extra books). DH and I felt she needed a little American history (will do this in K with our next two!), so we bought BF Early American History. DD is kicking and screaming (sometimes quite literally) when I mention history now. I am keeping the American history. I will probably cut some of the program to speed it up as she will get it again in the four-year cycle. Question: What can I add to BF to make it interesting? She NEEDS crafts/activities to cement things and keep her interest up. Are there any crafty/activity books that work well with the program? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 (edited) You could add something like Colonial Kids. Or Easy Make and Learn Colonial Projects. Or the History Pockets. They have one just for Plymouth colony plus many others. My girls love cooking, so we recently used Eating the Plates. Your library should have a selection of colonial craft books, and if your dd likes the history pockets, they make tons of them. My dd doesn't like crafts for educational purposes. She'd rather recreate something that the people really did. She prefers books that show what life was like during a time period such as Colonial Living by Tunis. eta... My dd loved a history reader that I found from Hewitt Homeschooling called American Tales Reader. It does a great job of covering many iconic American people. Yesterday she was telling me a story that she had read in that book. It is really very gentle and wonderful. Rainbow Resources sells it too. Edited December 5, 2009 by Karen in CO forgot a favorite history book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Agreeing with pp on Colonial Kids. I'm doing Am Hist with 7yo this year and she loves the ideas out of Colonial Kids. And I love them because they're easy to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calandalsmom Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Im not a fan of those books bc Im too dumb and disorganized to make good use of them. Recognizing here that its me that's the problem and not the books. Your dd would love these kits which have saved my craft impaired butt a million times. We have bought every single stinking kit except the Egypt one and guess what? We'll be getting it soon. The colonial times and westward expansion ones have some great girly stuff too. I just LOVED these- everything included nd EXPLICIT instructons which even I could manage to follow. (In addition to being terminally diorganized Im a craft failure.) http://handsandhearts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 I second the Colonial Kids and History Pockets recommendations. I got a few History Pockets books from Rainbow's "bargain section" last month for just $7 each, and they were in great shape. Also, almost all of the American Girls have a craft book & a cook book with ideas from that time period - check your library. They also have an illustrated "Samantha's World" (or whoever) book for each one that might be fun if your dd is more into the *story* part of history but not ready for the chapter books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 SOTW cds are painless and our dds love them! we're loving european history with history at our house, and they have an american history year. we did prairie primer for a yea (little house on the prairie), and then read aloud all the books for the different generations as an "extra". this worked well for us. i'm finding the dr. quinn medicine woman dvds to be amazing conversation starters, too. the american diary books have been fun, too. hth, ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plimsoll Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Just for a different perspective, we never ever did any crafts or activities, and yet my son is learning history. We did do a lot of audio stories (think Jim Weiss and others) as well as videos. You might try the Liberty's Kids dvds for a starter in American History. If you search through other threads, there are many, many recommendations for audio and video on both American and world history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 This was a topic on my blog recently. Click the link below and take a look. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeallgoeswell Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 This was a topic on my blog recently. Click the link below and take a look. Blessings, Lucinda GREAT pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeallgoeswell Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 I am going to take a look at Colonial Kids. Hopefully that will be will be what she needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~blessedmom~ Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TTS/ These Time Traveler cds look pretty crafty! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Question: What can I add to BF to make it interesting? She NEEDS crafts/activities to cement things and keep her interest up. Are there any crafty/activity books that work well with the program? I agree that the Colonial Kids book and others like those would be a great addition. I would also highly recommend Steven Caney's Kids' America. You can get it used for a great price and it is just a treasure trove of great projects and info. I sometimes read to the kids from it. For me, it's a must have for young kids and American history. http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TTS/ These Time Traveler cds look pretty crafty! :D These are very good, very well done and well worth the money. I bought them thinking that I could use some of the stuff now and some for our next go-around in American history. I've dipped my toe in but I really believe they are best for upper grammar to logic stage kids, unless you are particularly keen on doing most of the work for the kids (I'm not :D) or your kids are extremely advanced with the scissors and glue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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